By Kevin Wing
Editor, Off Camera
Lori Waldon, the accomplished, celebrated news director of Sacramento’s KCRA 3, is leaving the station to become president and general manager of KOAT in Albuquerque.
The news of Waldon’s KCRA departure was announced late last month. She joined the station as news director in August 2012. She begins her new post Jan. 1. Although Waldon is leaving KCRA, she remains with parent company Hearst Television, which owns KCRA and KOAT.
Derek Schnell, co-assistant news director at KCRA, is succeeding Waldon as news director. He joined the station in 2014 as an executive producer. A Hearst Television veteran, Schnell has also worked at Hearst stations in Kansas City and Oklahoma City.
In addition to Waldon’s role as KCRA news director during the last six and a half years, she has also served as regional director of news for Hearst stations in northern and central California.
“Lori is an accomplished, award-winning journalist with an outstanding record of leadership,” said Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television.
Under Waldon’s leadership, KCRA earned a 2018 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall News Excellence.
She joined KCRA from Hearst station WISN in Milwaukee. Prior to joining WISN, Waldon was assistant news director at KOVR in Sacramento. Previously, she was managing editor at KPIX in San Francisco.
In 2016, Waldon was inducted into the Silver Circle of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in honor of her more than 25 years of contributions to the Bay Area and northern California television industry.